Thread: CA-Driver charged with killing friend after 10-hour drinking

Driver charged with killing friend after 10-hour drinking binge

By LARRY WELBORN
The Orange County Register
August 12, 2009

Santa Ana man (illegal immigrant) lost control of an SUV while speeding.

SANTA ANA – A Santa Ana man whose friend died when he flipped an SUV in a high-speed crash after a 10-hour drinking binge has been charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Jose Maria Olmos, 37, of Santa Ana, was also charged with driving without a license, plus a sentencing enhancement allegation for causing bodily injury while driving.

He faces a possible sentence of 11 years in prison if convicted. He is scheduled to be arraigned today in the Central Justice Center.

Olmos and two friends, Juan Garcia and Jose Guadalupe Vilchis, began bar-hopping at 2 p.m. on July 25, according to a statement released today by the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

After more than 10 hours of drinking, Olmos got behind the wheel and drove off with his two friends in passenger seats, according to Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez.

Olmos was driving at between 60 and 70 mph in a 30-mph zone on Standard Avenue when he lost control, causing the SUV to flip on its side before it slid to a stop in a parking lot just north of Bishop Street, according to Baez.

Vilchis, who was seated in the front passenger seat, suffered minor injuries.

But Garcia, who was in the back seat, was knocked out of the car and was bleeding profusely from head wounds. He was transported to Western Medical Center, where he died at 1:30 a.m. on July 26.

Olmos had bloodshot and watery eyes, slurred speech, impaired balance and coordination, and had an odor of alcohol on his breath, but he was not arrested at the time because officers were unclear if he had been driving.

A follow-up investigation revealed that Olmos was the driver at the time of the crash and a warrant was issued for his arrest on July 31. Olmos turned himself in on Monday.

Baez said he will request a $1 million bail on Olmos, who is also being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold.

Contact the writer: lwelborn@ocregister or 714-834-3784

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/olmo ... santa-time

Well he was on some HOLD. Appears to have been able to go out on the town on a binge drinking tour like there was no tomorrow and kill someone